New Jersey has the fewest divorces
According to one metric, New Jersey has the fewest divorces in the US.
As reported by 24/7 Wall Street, the divorce rate in New Jersey, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, is 8.5% of the population 15 years old and older. At the opposite end of the spectrum, West Virginia and Arkansas are tied at 13.3%.
In another way of measuring it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the divorce rate in New Jersey in 2019 was 2.6 per 1,000 population, which is slightly lower than the national average of 2.9 per 1,000 population.
Why does New Jersey have fewer divorced people? 24/7 Wall Street points out that money problems cause many divorces, and the states that have the most divorces also have relatively low average household income; New Jersey is among the most affluent states.
Some other interesting divorce statistics:
- Median age at divorce: The median age at divorce in New Jersey is 42.1 years for men and 39.9 years for women, according to the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey.
- Length of marriage at divorce: The median length of marriage at the time of divorce in New Jersey is 10.8 years, according to the American Community Survey.
- Grounds for divorce: In 2019, irreconcilable differences was the most common grounds for divorce in New Jersey, accounting for 80.7% of all divorces, followed by separation (9.1%), extreme cruelty (6.3%), and adultery (1.4%), according to the New Jersey Department of Health.
I guess it’s more accurate to say that New Jersey has fewer divorcees than any other state, and while Utah has the highest marriage rate (56% of Utahans are married), New Jersey’s is pretty solid at 49.9%.
Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Doyle only.
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